20 WOMEN TO WATCH

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Lisa McDennon

By Tamirra StewartPublished: March 01, 2010

Age: 39City of residence: Laguna BeachFamily: My husband, Kevin; my daughter, Ryley, who is almost 5 years old; and my son, Aiden, who is almost 7 years oldFirst job: I worked at a one-hour photo developing company. I put the pictures through the machine.Who or what inspires you: So many things – nature inspires me, other artists. My family inspires me.Advice to other women in business: Trust your gut and follow that instinct, that feeling you get when you get that sixth sense. Don’t ignore it. Last movie you watched: “Avatar” in 3-D

« It’s the 10th anniversary for LRM, and Lisa McDennon can’t believe that it’s gone by so fast.

LRM
is not just a design firm that churns out clients. “We really assist
clients through not just the design selections but also the day-to-day
supervision and construction,” McDennon explains.

She listens to her clients, so that the interior environment she creates reflects their personality.

“We’re
not cookie cutter,” she says. “We lend our design expertise, so there’s
some influence but, in the end, it’s all personal taste – the
architectural details, the furniture and the accessories.”

The
clients are as diverse as their personalities – a mountain home, a
bachelor pad and, McDennon hopes, a couple of restaurants.

“I’ve always wanted to design restaurants,” she says.

Her first big break? A resort in Fiji just two weeks into her newly opened business. “It was serendipitous,” she says.

Recognition
by House Beautiful magazine as one of the 20 Designers to Watch, two
resorts and a lot of clients later, McDennon sees only the sky.

“Shoot for the moon and land on the stars,” she says. “The possibilities are endless.”